


Gotta Be Love - Six Rumple/Belle ficlets

by Severina



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Community: lands_of_magic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 08:38:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4173240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severina/pseuds/Severina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six ficlets based on various prompts from the lands-of-magic community.  Prompts: elaborate jewelry, coward, glitter, ship in a bottle, car crash, and chime.  :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gotta Be Love - Six Rumple/Belle ficlets

01\. **Prompt: photo prompt of elaborate chained jewelery for back of dress**  
Rumple/Belle, Dark Castle  
650 words

Elaborate  
by Severina

Belle hesitated nervously at the entrance to the room, smoothing her hands over the voluminous skirts of her gown. She had never before worn something so elaborate, and the gown fairly sparkled with beads and baubles. Her fingers flitted to her hair, swept up and held in place in a fanciful style that she's sure could only be accomplished with magic. A few curls escaped the intricate coif to frame her face, tickling her bare shoulders as she moved. She took a deep breath before moving further into the room, her heels clicking on the floor.

"Aaaah, there you are, there you are," Rumplestiltskin tittered, rising from his chair by the fire. Belle stopped halfway to the mantle when he approached, turning awkwardly in a circle in response to the twirling motion of his finger. When she was facing him again she saw that he had cocked his head, eyes narrowed as he studied her. "Nearly perfect," he pronounced.

"Nearly?" she choked out. "This is more finery than I have ever seen!"

"Hmmm," Rumplestiltskin said. He flicked his hand sharply, and Belle gasped when the purple haze of his magic cleared and she could make out the braids of glittering gems dangling from his fingers. "Turn around, dearie," he said, again twirling a finger at her.

Belle did as he asked, and lifted a hand again to the hollow of her throat when he reached around her to place the jewels around her neck. The thick collar that should have felt cold and constricting was light as a feather, and she couldn't prevent the shiver that escaped when the jeweled chains slithered across her bare back, nor when Rumplestiltskin stepped in close, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. "There now," he said, his breath warm against her ear. "Flawless."

She swallowed at the nearness of him; throat dry, heart pounding, palms suddenly damp with perspiration, and wondered if he would move still closer, if his lips would caress her cheek. Then Rumplestiltskin stepped away, the chill air of the castle replacing the warmth of his body, and the moment passed. Belle wobbled a little unsteadily as she turned to find him fussing with his sleeves, and knowing that he was nearly as flustered as she renewed her confidence.

"Don't you think this is a little extravagant," she asked, "for a simple ball?"

"Nonsense," he answered. He lifted his gaze from his own apparel to flit over her, and nodded once, precisely. "You look like a princess."

"But I'm not a princess," Belle argued. "I never was, not even before I came here. I'm just a maid."

"Hardly," he muttered, but before she could open her mouth to question him further his arm was snaking around her waist. "Now, come. I have several deals to make this evening and you will make a winsome distraction!"

Belle stiffened. "That's why you want me there? As a distraction?"

"Of… of course!" Rumplestiltskin stuttered out. "What other reason could there be?"

Belle moved again to protest, her interest in attending the ball waning if she was only there to divert attention from one of his deals, and shifted her gaze to his. But Rumplestiltskin's eyes were downcast, unable to meet her own; his fingers twitched anxiously against her waist. Rumplestiltskin may be a skilled and powerful sorcerer, but he was truly a dreadful liar. "Of course," he repeated, smiling as she leaned into him and wrapped the fingers of her hand around his arm. "No other reason at all."

His eyes lifted to hers then, startled, before the magic enveloped them. 

And later, in the warmth of her bed with the covers pulled up to her chin, she reflects on the evening before sleeps takes her. She's not sure he was able to conclude any deals at all that night. He spent entirely too much time spinning with her around the dance floor.

**

02\. **Prompt: coward**  
Rumple/Belle, Storybrooke  
300 words

Coward   
by Severina

Rumplestiltskin stopped outside the door, hand reaching for and then dropping away from the doorknob. He turned to Belle imploringly. "I can't."

"You can," Belle said soothingly.

"Belle—"

"You made deals with queens and sorcerers," she continued blithely. "Words never failed you then. They won't now."

Rumplestiltskin looked at her askance. "That meant nothing!" he said. "I had all the cards then, don't you see? The deck was stacked in my favour. And if not, if the deal went sour, what could happen to me? Nothing. But these?" He indicated the closed door with a flourish reminiscent of the old days. "They'll flay me alive!"

"I think you're rather over exaggerating, don't you, Rumple?"

He most certainly did not, but when Belle looked at him with such patience and surety in her eyes it made him bound and determined not to fail her. He still took a moment to straighten his tie and adjust the sleeves of his jacket, sure that she knew that he was stalling. But Belle only smiled at him and reached up to brush what was most likely a piece of imaginary lint from his shoulder, leaning against him to whisper in his ear as she did so. "You'll be fine," she murmured.

Rumplestiltskin nodded, swallowed around his dry throat and opened the door.

Twenty sets of bright, clever eyes turned toward him expectantly. 

He ignored the pounding in his chest and made his way to the front of the classroom, turning to seek out Henry among the mass of students. When his grandson smiled encouragingly at him, some of the jitters faded away. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. 

"My name is Mr. Gold," he said, "and I'm here on Career Day to discuss with you the fascinating world of antiquities and found objects."

**

03\. **Prompt: photo prompt of hand holding glitter**  
Rumple/Belle, Dark Castle  
300 words

Glitter  
by Severina

"Like this?" Belle asked, leaning over and blowing on the dust.

"No no no!" Rumplestiltskin raged as the dust scattered onto the floorboards. He skipped backwards quickly to avoid getting any of it on his clothes, not quite certain of what would happen if the likes of _that_ were to touch him, even with the protection of his leathers. "Not like you're a bellows at the smithy! Gently, dearie, gently!"

Belle closed her hand around the glittering specks of dust, slumping back into the chair. "I don't see why you can't do it!"

"Hmm yes," Rumplestiltskin answered. "Let's just say that fairy dust and what _I_ am are not likely to mix well, shall we?"

"You're not a monster. How many times must I say it?" Belle murmured, though he'd implied nothing of the sort. 

"Monster or no, this must be done," he said in response. "Try again."

But Belle only looked upon the dust, then gazed up at him with wide, unblinking eyes. "If it's so dangerous, why use it at all?"

He shouldn't tell her, his inquisitive little maid. But something in her tone – the pure, honest, nonjudgmental curiosity – made him open his mouth before his mind could convince him to do otherwise. "A potion," he replied, "which requires fairy dust in the making. For the prince of a distant land. In return, I will gain a staff which can be traded for a jewel. Deals upon deals, dearie. And eventually the deal will be made which may – may! – lead me to… someone I lost."

Belle opened her mouth and he knew that she would speak the name, but Rumplestiltskin held up a hand and she immediately fell silent. 

"Best not to tempt fate?" she asked.

"Indeed," Rumplestiltskin answered. "Now. Again?"

Belle pursed her lips and blew. Gently.

**

04\. **Prompt: ship in a bottle**  
Rumple/Belle, Dark Castle, with a little inspiration from "Black Sails" and "Treasure Island"  
550 words

Ship in a Bottle  
by Severina

Belle ran a dust cloth carefully over the treasures in the cabinet, her eyes shining as she took in each one. A music box, tiny filigree dancer stopped in mid twirl; the porcelain figure of a dragon, mouth open in a snarl; a simple wooden box carved with a pattern of delicate roses. Each one unique, and no doubt with a story to match of the attainment of it. She avoided the tarnished brass lamp as Rumplestiltskin demanded, and turned her attention to the elaborate ship in a bottle that stood front and centre on the shelf. She swiped her cloth over the glass, and then…

Belle blinked, sure she must be imagining things, and leaned closer. Closer, until her nose nearly bumped the glass. 

She squealed when she saw it again, backpedaling and nearly falling on her rump as she stumbled away from the cabinet. "Rumplestiltskin! There's something moving in the ship!"

"Oh yes," Rumplestiltskin said, abandoning his wheel to cross to her. "That's Flint."

Belle darted a glance to him before daring a few steps closer to the ship encased in glass. She squinted, and could just make out the miniature figure standing on the deck, his arms crossed at his chest. "F..Flint?" she repeated.

"Nasty sort," Rumplestiltskin warned. He waved a finger at her nose. "Don't remove the cork. He'll regain full size."

"He's… he's a man? Is he dangerous?" Belle straightened, but kept a wary eye on the ship. "Why is he trapped there?"

Rumplestiltskin wrinkled his nose. "You ask a lot of questions," he sniffed, "for the _help_."

Belle crossed her own arms at that, and raised a brow. "If you expect me to clean your things, the least I ought to know is if I'm in any danger by doing so," she said. 

"I would never put you in danger," Rumplestiltskin answered quickly. When she did no more than stare at him, he huffed out a breath. "He is a man, a pirate, and skilled at the sword. But if he were to be freed, he'd more likely bore you to death with his endless stories about hidden gold," Rumplestiltskin said, sing-songing the last, his finger wagging in time with his voice. 

"Hidden gold?" Belle asked, unable to keep her own voice from rising in excitement at the thought. She'd read of pirates in her stories, dastardly men who pillaged villages and took what they wanted. But hidden treasure!

"And the plans he had for it," Rumplestiltskin added. "To free his men, plan for their futures, stabilize some tiny island in the middle of nowhere—"

"But if he only intended to do good by it, then why—"

"What he intended," Rumplestiltskin interrupted, "was to kill them all and keep it for himself."

Belle shook her head, her gaze again drifting to the man stuck inside the bottle with his ship. "You can't know what's in a man's heart, Rumple."

"I can and I do," Rumplestiltskin insisted. He moved past her to close the cabinet door. "Leave the dusting now, I've need of straw for my wheel. And in future, don't touch the ship. Or it's occupant."

Belle went where he beckoned, but couldn't help looking over her shoulder. A pirate. Buried treasure. She bit her lip.

Oh, the stories he could tell!

**

05\. **Prompt: car crash**  
Rumple/Belle, Storybrooke  
350 words

Car Crash  
by Severina

"Belle!"

Belle jolted forward, the seat belt digging painfully into her chest as the Cadillac lurched with the impact. Her head spun, the breath squeezed from her lungs. The crunch of metal, tires squealing, Rumple's muttered curses – all of it mixed up in her head until the car came to a rumbling stop.

She became aware by slow degrees of Rumple's hands questing across her body, his voice shrill in her ears, and only then realized that she'd closed her eyes when the other car had careened into their lane. 

"I'm fine," she managed to breathe out. She opened her eyes, blinked to bring Rumplestiltskin into focus. "I'm all right."

Rumple's hand tightened briefly around her bicep, his relief thrumming through her skin. Then the pressure was gone, the anxiety in his eyes replaced by malice as his gaze flicked to the dazed drive emerging from the other vehicle. "I'll kill him," he said.

To any other man, the words would be nothing more than an idle threat borne of his worry for her, his fear for her. But to her Rumple… 

Belle twisted in her seat, suppressed the gasp that warned of a cracked or broken rib, and raised a hand to smooth across his cheek and force his face to hers. "I'm fine," she repeated.

"You could have been killed," Rumplestiltskin gritted out.

She could feel the crackling of his magic swirling in the small space, raising the hair on her arms and the nape of her neck. "It was an accident, Rumple." 

"He nearly—"

"But he didn't," she interrupted. She found a smile for him around the ache in her chest. "Better to be concerned for the state of your car."

She felt the magic recede when he took a breath, then his eyes narrowed when he saw the steam rising from the Cadillac's engine. "I'll kill him."

Belle closed her eyes when Rumple rounded on the quaking dwarf huddled in front of a very crumpled Maserati. He could expect a good tongue lashing, but at least he was safe from being turned into a toad.

**

06\. **Prompt: chime**  
Rumple/Belle, Storybrooke  
650 words

Chime  
by Severina

Belle gazed forlornly at the library door, which remained stubbornly closed no matter how much she glared at it. She finally gave up, shoulders slumping. "No one's going to come, are they?"

"It's only the third day," Rumplestiltskin answered. 

"They haven't had a library in Storybrooke in… ever!" she said. "I thought people would be clamoring to get inside. All these books…"

He followed her gaze to the shelves, spines gleaming under her care. Only his Belle could look at books with practically the same desire in her eyes that he saw in his darkened bedroom, under the touch of his hands. He shook his head, pushed aside their half-eaten lunch on the reading table and reached for her instead. "It's a different time," he said, taking her hand and urging her into his lap, arm around her waist. "There are televisions here, videos. Instant gratification for the masses."

She wound her arms over his shoulders, shrugging. "Still—"

"At least," he said, "there is no one to interrupt us when I do this."

Her lips parted willingly under his, her body melding into his gracefully. There were still blushes and shy smiles when they lay together, but Belle had taken to kisses with unabashed fervor. The fingers of his right hand wound into her hair when her tongue dipped into his mouth, and when his left crept to her breast to circle her nipple through the thin silk of her blouse she gasped and writhed in his lap. He couldn't help the moan that escaped then, couldn't help the way his hand dipped to her tiny waist to draw her closer. In moments like this he wanted only to spirit them away to the ends of the earth, keep her near to him always.

Belle groaned when the bell above the door chimed, releasing his mouth to drop her forehead onto his shoulder.

Rumplestiltskin nuzzled her hair as he took his own steadying breath, slid a hand along her waist. "You did want more visitors," he teased. 

"Not now," Belle whined, slapping at his chest ineffectually when he chuckled. Her reluctance was evident when she slipped off his lap to smooth a hand down the front of her skirt before patting at her hair. "How do I look?"

His gaze swept her, and any attempt he'd made to modulate his own emotions was dashed away at the sight of her, with the blush creeping up her collar and her lips plump and reddened by his kisses. His voice, when he spoke, was a low growl. "I can get rid of them."

"Rumple!"

"Turn them into snails?" he suggested.

She laughed, darting away from his outstretched hand, none the wiser at how close he'd come to flicking his fingers and making the thought a reality. He watched her hurry to her desk and greet her guests, her head cocked as she listened before she led the woman and her child to a stack of books in the corner, her voice drifting back to him as she talked of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. 

His fingers curled atop his cane as he fought the wave of sudden proprietary greed that nearly carried him away. There was no more hiding her away in his castle, here. No more keeping her for himself, no matter how much he desired it. 

He glanced again at the shelves with their polished books stacked high, the sturdy tables and reading lamps. _This_ library would be shared with all, because it was what Belle wanted. Because it made her happy. And to see her smile as she was right now, he would do almost anything.

Now he just needed to figure out how to force people in the door without Belle realizing his complicity with her sudden influx of eager readers. A delicate matter, that. 

But he was the Dark One, after all. He'd think of something.


End file.
